An Attempt On Fate
by The Passionate Admiral
Summary: Suppose that not everyone was willing to accept Tom in the crew when the Voyager first began its journey home. AU story of the starship's first year in the Delta Quadrant when past grudges get the better of someone. It's complete!
1. Drinking Policy

An Attempt On Fate

Author: The Passionate Admiral

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Star Trek universe, including any of the characters. I just own the storyline.

("…" means "time passes")

Plot: Not everyone was willing to accept Tom into the crew. All the Starfleet officers, being the tolerant people they were, accepted him almost immediately. But a few of the Maquis may not have been able to forgive him for betraying them. This story suggests that one time someone wanted to eliminate Tom Paris from the crew. This takes place between "Learning Curve" and "The 37s."

Lieutenant Tom Paris walked to the bridge to the turbolift to report for his shift at the helm. He was quickly examining his navigation report, which would be turned in to the Captain when he reported in. He stepped into the turbolift and said "Bridge."

The turbolift went up a few decks and stopped at Deck 1. Tom got out and stepped down to the center of the bridge. Captain Kathryn Janeway was sitting in her chair, drinking her daily cup of black coffee. Lieutenant Paris approached her and handing over the PADD, said "Here's today's update on the navigation array, Captain."

Taking it, she said "Thank you, Lieutenant Paris." While she examined it, Tom noticed that she was not the only one with a drink. Commander Chakotay had a cup of orange juice in his hand, Lieutenant Tuvok had a cup of tranya, and Ensign Harry Kim had some warm chocolate milk with him.

"Excuse me, Captain." said the pilot. "Are we allowed to have drinks on the bridge now?"

Captain Janeway just gave him the smirk with the raised eyebrow, which indicated that it was allowed. She told him "If you would like something to drink, Lieutenant, the replicator in my ready room is open for grabs."

"Thank you, Captain." said Tom. He went into the ready room and stepped up to the replicator. He said "Sweet green tea, chilled with a hint of lemon."

The replicator materialized a cup of green tea. Tom took it, left the ready room, and relieved Ensign Pablo Baytart of his duty shift at the helm. As he examined the astrogation charts, Harry asked him "What'd you get, Tom?"

"Green tea." answered the chief flight controller before drinking some of his beverage.

"Excellent choice." Chakotay commented.

"I think so, too." Tom agreed.

All of a sudden, an icon started flashing on the panel in front of him. He called out "Captain, there's a vessel approaching fast on an intercept course!"

"Harry, what is its status?" Janeway asked the young operations officer.

"Its shields and weapons are coming online!" Harry notified the Captain.

"And its configuration?" Kathryn aimed this question at Tuvok.

"Just a moment." he went through the readings on his console before answering "Kazon."

She stood up and shouted "Shields up! Go to red alert!"

Everybody put their drinks down and went to work preparing the ship to go into battle.

…

The Kazon ship was destroyed in the end. After the battle, the repair teams inspected the damage.

On the bridge, the damage was light. Captain Janeway's coffee had spilled on her lap. Commander Chakotay's orange juice had splashed into his face. Harry's chocolate milk had spilled onto his console. Tuvok's tranya glass had fallen to the ground, creating a large stain on the floor.

Tom was the only one whose drink had not spilled anywhere.

He just turned to the others and grinned. He took a sip of his green tea, and then commented "We should do this more often. Pretty soon, there may be a policy that permits a picnic on the bridge."

…

The drinking policy on the bridge was maintained over the next week. On the eighth day, Tom reported for his shift, handed in his report on navigations, and went to the replicator in the ready room.

Tom came back out with his daily glass of green tea. Chakotay asked him "Green tea again, Tom?"

"You know it, Commander." was Tom's reply.

"Why all the green tea, Lieutenant?" inquired Kathryn.

He shrugged and responded with "It's good for you, Captain. Much better than coffee."

"Well, I don't know about that." she argued.

"I looked it up." Tom told her. "Green tea is the only beverage you should be drinking every day to have a healthy lifestyle."

Janeway just humorously rolled her eyes and said "Whatever you say, Lieutenant."

Tom then took a sip of his tea, but then he made a face. "Odd."

"What is it, Tom?" asked Harry.

"I thought I tasted something other than lemon." Tom answered. He took another sip. The mysterious piquancy was not there that time. He just shrugged and went to sit down at the helm.

Nothing was really going on at that moment, but Tom was staying alert and focused on his station.

After an hour, Tom's vision was suddenly becoming a little blurred in his right eye. He lightly waved his right hand over the same eye. Within a few moments, he regained his vision entirely.

A moment later, Tom's left foot went numb. He ignored it at first, assuming that his foot was merely asleep. But after five minutes, it was still numb. He shook his foot for about a minute until it regained its senses.

Another thirty minutes later, Tom's glass was almost empty. He was just about to finish it when he felt a slight sting in his side. He held his hand against his side, trying to use pressure on it to ease the pain. But it did not work. Slowly, the ache in his side was expanding further into the center of his chest. Eventually he felt it throughout his entire lower chest. It was becoming remarkably unpleasant.

"Lieutenant, are you alright?" asked Captain Janeway.

Tom had been so occupied in easing the pain that he had not realized that he was doubling over slightly. His left arm had been firmly grasping his chest. He gave his captain a thumbs-up sign over his shoulders with his other hand and said "I'm fine, Captain."

But she did not believe him. Janeway stood up and walked over to Tom. By then, he was almost giving out an agonizing groan under his breath. She tried to see the front of his face, but he was intentionally turning away to avoid her gaze. She told him "No, Mr. Paris, you're clearly not fine."

"Captain, I insist… I'm okay." Just then Tom's right hand slipped from the panel and hit his cup of green tea, knocking it to the ground. Almost that exact same moment, all the pain in Tom's chest went directly to his throat. He grabbed his neck with both hands while simultaneously he fell out of his chair. Then he was quickly hyperventilating and groaning on the floor. Ensign Wildman screamed in fright.

Chakotay came over to Tom and helped the Captain with him. He asked him "Tom, what's wrong?"

Tom's eyes were wide-open and he was trying to take some desperate breaths. All he could say was "I… can't…b-breathe!"

Chakotay grabbed the fragments of the shattered cup, and then gestured for Kathryn to move back. She complied, and then Chakotay tapped his combadge and said "Medical emergency! Beam me and Lieutenant Paris directly to sickbay!"

As the two of them vanished in the transporter beam, Crewman Grimes took over Tom's place at the helm. Captain Janeway just returned to her seat and sat down with a look of anxiety on her face.

In the sickbay, Tom was going into shock. As Kes helped him onto the bio-bed, Chakotay shouted "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram!"

The Doctor appeared and uttered "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"Tom says he can't breathe." Chakotay summarized. "He was just fine this morning when he reported for duty."

"Was it something he ate or drank?" asked Kes, trying to calm the pilot, who was experiencing violent spasms at that moment.

"I believe it was something he drank." Chakotay handed the broken glass over to The Doctor. "There's still some of the liquid he was drinking in the cup."

"What was he drinking?" asked The Doctor.

"Green tea."

"Well that should have had the complete opposite effect on him than the one he is currently experiencing." said The Doctor. He noticed that Tom was still desperately gasping for air. The Doctor instructed Kes "Give him 6 CCs of rieolicine. That should sedate him."

Kes nodded and filled a hypospray with the recommended drug. Then she injected it into Tom's neck. He slowly calmed down and went into deep sleep. She then took a look at Tom's bio-readings and said to The Doctor "His oxygen levels are still going down."

"There's a crate of emergency oxygen masks in that cabinet over there." The Doctor instructed her. "You should be able to use one to stabilize his breathing."

Kes nodded and went over to the cabinet. She took out an oxygen mask and approached Tom. She slid the breathing apparatus over his mouth and connected the power cell into the main computer. After activating it, she took a look at his vital signs. She announced "His vitals are holding! Oxygen levels are returning to normal."

The Doctor picked up his medical tricorder and conducted some biological scans on Tom. After he finished, he examined the data and announced "Interesting. There are trace amounts of terionium disulfide in his blood and on the sides of his neck.

"Terionium disulfide?" said Chakotay. He looked down at the shattered glass in his hands. Holding it out to The Doctor, he ordered him "Scan the tea for that same compound."

The Doctor complied, and reported his findings: "There's more of it in the liquid. Very interesting."

Suddenly, he realized what the Commander was suggesting. He slowly came to the same conclusion. He tapped his combadge and said "Doctor to Captain Janeway."

"Janeway here. What is it, Doctor?"

"Commander Chakotay and I must request that you take the ship to Yellow Alert, Captain."

"May I ask why, Doctor?"

There was a rather unpleasant pause. Then The Doctor answered with "We believe someone just tried to kill Lieutenant Paris."


	2. Primary Investigations

"Kill him, Doctor?" asked Janeway. "Are you certain?"

Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Tuvok had assembled in sickbay. Every now and then Janeway would glance over at Tom's unconscious form on the bio-bed. Kes was attending to him at that moment, and The Doctor and Chakotay were explaining their discoveries to Janeway and Tuvok.

"Yes, Captain." The Doctor confirmed.

"I know Tom has not always been the most likable guy on the ship," the Captain admitted, "but to try to kill him? Who would do such a thing?"

"Well, technically everyone on this ship is a suspect." Chakotay told her. "But our first piece of evidence has managed for us to eliminate more than three-quarters of the suspects."

"What is this evidence?" inquired Tuvok.

"The method in which Tom was poisoned." The Doctor answered. Chakotay handed her the liquid in a small vial. He told her "Smell it."

She did and said "I don't swell anything."

"Exactly." said Chakotay. "We extracted that from Tom's green tea. It is terionium disulfide, a type of compound that is hazardous to many humanoid species, particularly Cardassians."

Upon hearing the last word, Janeway glared at Chakotay and said "So your suspects are narrowed down to-?"

"The Maquis?" Chakotay finished for her. "That is correct."

"But how could this compound have ended up in the lieutenant's green tea in the first place?" asked Tuvok.

"It's an old Maquis tactic." Chakotay explained. "We would sabotage the replicators on Cardassian ships so that when food materialized, it would have terionium disulfide in its chemical composition. It would be used to poison the Guls and their senior staffs. However, the poison usually kills them after just an hour. They experience the same things Tom experienced, but they usually die instantly after they stop breathing."

"Why do you think it did not work as quickly on Tom?" asked Janeway.

"It could be that the poison is not as familiar with Human anatomy as it is with Cardassian anatomy." Chakotay speculated. "The assassin must not have taken that into consideration."

"I suggest that we take that to our advantage." said Kathryn.

"That is a prudent decision, Captain." Tuvok agreed.

"I concur." said The Doctor. The three of them looked at Chakotay. He had a look of concern on his face. Janeway asked him "What is bothering you, Commander?"

"There is something you should know, Captain." Chakotay enlightened her. "In every case we've used this poison, it's been fatal. We've known of several cases when the victims are not Cardassians, but they all have died. It's lethal to Betazoids, Trill, Vulcans, Ferengi, Bolians, Klingons, Romulans, and even the Breen. No treatment has saved any of them."

"What about Humans?" asked The Doctor.

Chakotay just looked at the holographic chief medical officer and told him "That's your decision."

The Doctor looked over at Tom, and then he said "I would say that your statement must be taken literally, sir. If I don't find a cure, we will need a permanent replacement for the Chief Conn Officer."

(Note: Sorry to interrupt in the middle of the chapter, but I need to say something. Because this is an AU story, there is a chance that Tom may die, so don't assume that he will live just because this takes place before Season 2.)

Captain Janeway turned to Tuvok and gave him orders on what security precautions to take over the matter of Tom's safety: "I want one guard posted at either entrance into sickbay, and I want another one placed in sickbay. But only Starfleet guards. And tell them no visitors. I'm not taking any chances that the assassin will try to finish what he, or she, started."

"I'll have Andrews and Jarvis take the first watch at the doors." said Tuvok. "Ensign Kaplan will take the shift inside sickbay."

"Good decision, Lieutenant." said the Captain. She turned to The Doctor and said "Keep me notified of Mr. Paris' condition."

Then she, Chakotay, and Tuvok left the sickbay. All of them were deeply concerned for their flight controller's well-being.

…

In main engineering, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres was conducting her usual inspection of the warp core. She was just finishing up her surveillance on the plasma injectors when one of her friends, Chell, came up to her and asked her "B'Elanna, have you heard the news?"

"What news?" inquired the half-Klingon chief engineer, still focusing on her report.

Chell replied simply "Someone just tried to kill Tom Paris."

B'Elanna promptly diverted her attention towards her Bolian colleague. She said flat out "WHAT?"

"I myself just found out." Chell explained. "The rumors about what happened indicate that he was poisoned."

"Where is he now?" asked B'Elanna.

"He's in sickbay." Chell answered. "For the moment, he's in a coma. The Doctor doesn't know for how long, though."

B'Elanna then put down her PADD and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Chell called after her, even though he already knew the answer to his own question. As B'Elanna left, she called out "Carey, you're in charge until I get back."

B'Elanna was storming through the halls to the turbolift. Once she got in it, she shouted "Sickbay."

The turbolift ascended six decks from Deck 11 to Deck 5. When the doors opened, B'Elanna stormed out of them and headed for sickbay. She found Crewman Jarvis at the entrance. She was about to go in when Jarvis stood in her way.

"Crewman, I need to get in sickbay." said B'Elanna.

"Are you injured, Lieutenant Torres?" asked the security guard.

"No, I need to see Lieutenant Paris."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that."

"Why not?" B'Elanna asked impatiently.

"The Captain gave me strict instructions: NO visitors." Jarvis said.

B'Elanna was about to go around to the other entrance, but Jarvis told her "Andrews is guarding the other entrance. He won't let you in either."

B'Elanna felt ready to knock Jarivs off her feet, but before she could do such a thing, Commander Chakotay came along and asked "Is there a problem here?"

Jarvis looked at B'Elanna and said "Is there, Lieutenant?"

B'Elanna sighed and answered Chakotay with "No, there is not, Commander."

B'Elanna then walked with Chakotay down the hallway to nowhere in particular. Along the way, he asked "Who told you?"

"Told me what?" she asked.

"B'Elanna, you **never **willingly report to sickbay for your own personal health." Chakotay explained. "There's only one reason why you would want to get in there. So who told you?"

"Chell." she answered. "What happened to him?"

"Well, I was on the bridge when it happened." he explained. "Tom ordered green tea from a replicator and took his place at the helm. An hour later, he started choking. Soon he went into shock. We managed to transport him to sickbay just in time."

"How is he?" asked B'Elanna.

"Well, the Doctor's got him stabilized for the moment." Chakotay enlightened her. "But the worst part is what he was poisoned with: terionium disulfide. It was replicated with his drink."

B'Elanna glanced at him. She demanded "Are you saying that the offender is a Maquis?"

"Well, none of the Starfleet crewmembers was trained to sabotage the replicators in such a manner." said Chakotay. "However, only a few of the Maquis on this ship know how to do it successfully without leaving any evidence behind."

"What else were you able to find?" asked B'Elanna.

"We have determined that whoever sabotaged the replicator did it via a panel located somewhere off the bridge." Chakotay answered. "We don't know where specifically, but we were also able to conclude that the replicator was sabotaged just 0.6 seconds before Tom's tea materialized."

"Have you been able to eliminate anyone as suspects?" she asked

"Given the previous information and some alibis, we have ruled out a few people." he told her.

"Who?"

"Well, Hogan for one. Neelix told me he was helping him in the messhall when Tom reported to the bridge." Chakotay explained. "Jor was working with Kes in the airponics bay. Yosa and Smithee were helping Carey fix a few conduits in main engineering."

"What about Kurt Bendera?" asked B'Elanna. "Or Mariah Henley?"

"Bendera was in sickbay undergoing his annual checkup." said Chakotay. "And Henley was with Jackson, Hargrove, and Dorado in the holodeck. They were off duty and doing a recreation of a classic play."

"Well, I'm sure that Henley and Jackson are easily acquitted," assumed B'Elanna, "seeing as how both Hargrove and Dorado are Starfleet, they could vouch for them easily."

"We've managed to narrow the list of suspects down to eleven so far." he told her. "Right now I'm off to today's senior staff meeting."

"There's one today?" asked B'Elanna. She had been so focused on Tom's well-being that she had forgotten that there was a meeting that day. In fact, if Chell hadn't have told her about Tom, she probably would have been in the conference room at that very moment.

"Yes." said Chakotay. "The Captain's going to address the matter of Tom's condition during the meeting."

The two of them then made their way to the turbolift to get to the bridge.

…


	3. Meeting And Discussions

The ship had been on Yellow Alert for hours already. Everyone was able to keep the ship in order, but they were becoming increasingly more anxious over the security of the ship. A few people had begun to wonder if perhaps Tom was only the first victim of the replicator sabotage. The Starfleet crew was being very cautious around the Maquis crew, but they were not yet to the point of being unable to exhibit signs of friendship towards them.

In the conference room, the entire senior staff had assembled. Captain Janeway sat at the end. Ensign Kim sat to her left and Commander Chakotay sat to her right. Lieutenant Torres sat on the other side of Chakotay; Lieutenant Tuvok sat to her right in turn. Kes and Neelix sat across from them. There was an empty seat between Harry and Kes. That would have been Tom's seat had he shown up that day. Even though he was absent, they still left it empty as if they were half-expecting him to walk through the door and announce that The Doctor had miraculously cured him.

Finally, the meeting began. Captain Janeway had each of the department heads submit a brief but thorough report on the efficiency of their work on the ship.

Tuvok's security report concluded with a rather unusual twist to it: "To summarize everything, Captain, all security measures have been uncompromised and well-taken… with one unfortunate exception."

After all of the reports were finished, Janeway put her hands together, leaned back in her chair, and said to her staff "Now, on to a more pressing matter. As all of you are probably aware, there is a reason why Lieutenant Paris is not here right now. Today at approximately 0846 hours, he ingested a lethal dosage of terionium disulfide. We have no doubts now that someone attempted to murder him."

Everyone in the room felt very uneasy at that moment. Everyone except Tuvok, however. But all the same, he was concerned for Lieutenant Paris' life.

The captain activated the viewscreen on the wall. The terminal in sickbay was activated and The Doctor was standing in the middle of the room facing the room's viewscreen in turn.

"May we have a progress report, Doctor?" said the Captain.

"The lieutenant's condition is constantly deteriorating." The Doctor reported sadly. "I've increased the amount of each injection I give him, but I fear that won't be enough."

"How long does he have?" asked B'Elanna.

"About four days." said The Doctor. "Six at the most. But I'll keep working to keep him alive. However, I'm afraid I will not get far without a cure."

Captain Janeway turned to Neelix and said to him "Neelix, do you know of anyone who deals with terionium disulfide? If you do, perhaps they could help us find a cure."

Neelix shook his head and said "I'm sorry, Captain. I've never even heard of terionium until now."

Janeway sat down in her chair, thinking about other options. Finally, she said to Chakotay "Commander, did the Maquis ever work to develop a cure for the compound's deadly effects?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Captain." Chakotay admitted. "It worked so well against the Cardassians that we saw no reason to create a cure."

"Did you even begin some research on developing a cure?" Janeway hoped for better luck in the answer to that question.

The viewscreen on the wall was still showing sickbay. The Doctor was attending to Tom again. While everyone else buried themselves in conversation and discussion, she just watched Tom. He was lying on the bio-bed so still, so peaceful, and yet he was dying. B'Elanna was experiencing a strong desire to help The Doctor cure Tom.

She remembered the day the two of them had met on the Ocampa homeworld. He was part of the team that had saved her and Harry from the Ocampa. Tom had even gone out of his way to get her to safety before he had gotten himself to safety.

Months later, there was the incident with the Vidiians on Avery III, when she had been split into her Human and Klingon halves. She remembered that Lieutenant Durst had been killed on that planet. After he had been separated from Tom and B'Elanna, the two of them were left alone to look out for each other. Later when two other Vidiians had threatened B'Elanna, Tom had stood up for her without a twinge of fear in his eyes. It was then that she fully realized that Tom would willingly sacrifice himself to save her.

While she was watching Tom, Captain Janeway said "Well, we should concentrate some more on eliminating suspects. We still have eleven people who had the opportunity to pull this off."

"Actually, Captain, we only have seven left." Tuvok clarified for her. He approached her and handed her a PADD. It had eleven names on it. But four of them had an X next to them.

"I overviewed some more of the evidence myself just an hour ago." Tuvok explained "I noticed certain details that most would consider to be insignificant. However, as a Vulcan, I know that there ARE no insignificant details."

"Good work, Mr. Tuvok." Janeway complimented her Second Officer. She looked at the names and announced "At this rate we'll have discovered the assassin's identity in…"

She stopped right there. She felt too uncomfortable to announce the names on the list because of the last one. So she said "Chakotay, Tuvok, and I will look into this. You're all dismissed. But in the meantime, I want the rest of you to keep doing your jobs, same as ever. I promise you, we won't let Tom die."

Everybody except for B'Elanna got up and left the room to return to their stations. Concerned for her, Janeway asked "Is everything alright, Lieutenant?"

Her eyes still focused on the viewscreen, B'Elanna said "Captain, I have a request."

"What is it, B'Elanna?" asked Kathryn.

The chief engineer turned to the captain and said "I want to work with The Doctor to find a cure for Tom."

"Why?" inquired the Captain.

B'Elanna lightly shrugged and answered "Tom has saved my life twice in the past year. I feel that I owe it to him."

There was silence for a moment, and then Janeway said "I admire your devotion to Lieutenant Paris, but I'm afraid I must deny your request, B'Elanna."

"But Captain, I know all about this compound." B'Elanna insisted. "I am sure I could adapt some engineering tactics to develop a cure."

"B'Elanna, I'm sorry, but I need you down in engineering during today's maintenance overhaul." said the Captain.

B'Elanna felt a strong urge to roll her eyes at that moment, but she fought the urge. She said "Captain, Lieutenant Carey can manage the engineering crew well enough without me."

"The answer is no." Janeway said sternly. "Now please return to your place in main engineering."

B'Elanna was becoming very impatient at that moment, but she decided not to argue with the Captain. She knew that doing so would most likely get her thrown in the brig. So she just stood up and left the conference room.

…

B'Elanna stepped off of the turbolift onto Deck 11 and headed for main engineering. She found Chakotay headed in the same direction, and subsequently ran to catch up with him. She told him about how the Captain had denied her request and how she felt that there was something that she was not telling her.

As they walked, she noticed Chakotay had one arm behind his back. She asked him "Chakotay, are you hiding something?"

He nervously replied "Umm… No, B'Elanna, I'm not hiding anything."

"Nice try." she said. Chakotay sighed and showed her what he was holding. He told her "It's a list of the remaining suspects we have in this mystery."

"Who is left?" asked B'Elanna.

"They are Suder, Jarvin, Ayala, Tabor, Jonas, and Gerron." replied Chakotay.

"That's only six names." noted B'Elanna.

"I know." said Chakotay.

"Tuvok said there were seven."

"No, he said there were six."

"Chakotay, let me see that PADD."

"What, you don't believe me?"

She snatched the PADD out of his hand and glimpsed at the bottom of it. She saw that there was indeed a seventh name, but she was shocked upon seeing it. She looked up at Chakotay and almost shouted "I cannot believe you would think that **I **would do something as horrible as what's happened to Tom!"


	4. Narrowing The List Further

"B'Elanna, Tuvok wrote this list, not me." Chakotay tried to explain to her.

"He actually thinks that I would try to murder Tom?" said B'Elanna.

"Between you and me, I don't think you would." said the Commander. "You are just on the list because you had opportunity."

"But I didn't have a motive!" B'Elanna yelled.

Chakotay shrugged and said "It's best not to question Tuvok."

B'Elanna was disgusted by his last comment. But she just uttered "Whatever you say, _sir_." She gave back the PADD, and then she turned around and stormed back to main engineering.

…

The next day at about 1200 hours, Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok were in the ready room, trying to further narrow down the list. But their research only brought them so far. After a short time, Tuvok found some rather peculiar information that directly connected the offender with the poisonous compound used in Tom Paris' green tea.

"Captain, here is something that strikes me as rather remarkable." he proclaimed.

"What have you found, Lieutenant?" she asked.

"Before the replicator was sabotaged, there was nothing in the replicator that had terionium disulfide in its chemical composition." Tuvok reported. "In order for the compound to have been replicated, someone would have had to introduce a genuine sample of the substance to the replicators."

"But we've scanned the entire ship for terionium disulfide." Chakotay told the Captain. "There is not a trace of it anywhere, and based on earlier scans, it never got onboard."

"Then how could it have been brought on board?" asked Janeway. "Terionium disulfide cannot be created via double replacement, or even single replacement. It can only be found in nature as itself."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow and said "I have a theory, Captain."

Chakotay and Janeway listened closely. "Someone must have brought the compound on board somehow. However, everything brought aboard by the shuttles is searched and scanned thoroughly, so the compound could not have come from a shuttle delivery. The only possible way it got onboard was via the transporter."

"But the transporters would have detected it immediately." said Janeway. "They are all set to raise an alarm whenever a hazardous element such as terionium is brought aboard."

"That is true, Captain," admitted Tuvok, "but the compound could not be detected if it is inside one's body."

"What are you saying, Tuvok?" asked Chakotay.

"Whoever brought the terionium disulfide aboard would have had to swallow it and then come aboard." Tuvok enlightened him.

"But you said it was lethal to every species who has consumed it." Janeway recalled.

"Actually, Captain, I did recently discover that Bajorans are immune to the deadly effects of the compound." said Tuvok. "If they ingest any of it, it just sits at the bottom of their stomachs and never gets digested."

"How did you discover this?" asked the Captain.

Tuvok explained: "During the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, some Bajorans would consume terionium disulfide. Then they could casually enter Cardassian houses, and once inside they would regurgitate the compound and lace it into the Cardassians' dishes. The Bajorans killed thousands of Cardassians with this compound."

"So you mean that the assassin is a Bajoran?" assumed Janeway.

"I believe so." Tuvok confirmed.

Chakotay examined the list. He announced "Then that narrows it down to either Gerron or Tabor."

"Or Lieutenant Torres." said Tuvok. Janeway and Chakotay glared at Tuvok after he made his last comment. He explained it with "Because of her hybrid anatomy, we cannot be certain whether or not she is immune to the substance. Until we are certain, she must still be marked as a suspect."

"Tuvok, let's be realistic here." said Chakotay. "B'Elanna has been offering to help Tom."

"In fact, she told me that she feels obligated to help him." said Janeway. "The two of them seem to be closer than just friends ever since we rescued them from Avery III."

"I admire Lieutenant Torres' desire to aid Lieutenant Paris," Tuvok admitted, "but until we have absolute proof, we must not take any course of action that could compromise Mr. Paris' safety."

"You seem to be taking this a little too seriously, Tuvok." noted Chakotay.

"Commander, there is more at stake than Mr. Paris' life here." said Tuvok. "If he dies, many of the crew may conclude that their safety aboard this ship is no longer guaranteed. I anticipate that eventually people may get paranoid or suspicious over the smallest of reasons. Performance and efficiency would be lowered considerably. Saving the lieutenant's life will prove otherwise."

Chakotay and Janeway ended up agreeing with Tuvok after that last statement. He told them his plan: "I will interrogate Mr. Gerron first, and then I will question Mr. Tabor. Afterwards, I will speak with Miss Torres."

Janeway nodded and said "Let us know if you have uncovered anything. In the meantime, I'm going to check up on Kes and The Doctor and see what progress they have made in finding a cure for Tom."

…

Tuvok was interrogating Gerron in the back table of the mess hall. Gerron had remembered what happened the last time they had been in the same room at the same time; they had almost died of exposure to extreme heat. But Tuvok had saved his life with the help of a few other Maquis.

Even though he had saved his life, Gerron still felt a little uncomfortable around Tuvok. But he was not afraid to look him in the eye anymore.

"May I know where you were at 0845 hours yesterday morning?" said Tuvok.

"I was in my quarters." Gerron replied.

"Was anyone with you?" asked the Vulcan security chief.

"What does that mean?"

"Crewman, I am not trying to invade your private life." Tuvok reassured the young Bajoran. "I am merely inquiring if someone was with you at that time."

Gerron sighed and said "Tal Celes was with me."

"Crewman Celes was on duty at that time." Tuvok noted.

"She was taking a break." said Gerron. "Ask her. She'll tell you."

Tuvok jotted down more notes onto his PADD and asked "What were you doing with her at that time?"

Gerron was starting to look a little nervous. He was having difficulty making eye contact with Tuvok once again. After a minute, Tuvok said "I'm waiting, Mr. Gerron."

Finally, Gerron replied with "She wanted help organizing a diagnostics report of the impulse drive. I was inclined to lend her a hand, so I invited her to my quarters where we could work together."

Tuvok could tell that there was more to Gerron's story than he was telling him. He asked "What else did you do while Celes was in your quarters."

"Well, we did get a little informal…" Gerron began.

"And? What did you do after you got informal?"

Gerron was starting to sweat then. He was worried about what he should say next. Finally, he took in a deep breath and said "We had sex, alright?"

Tuvok just continued writing his report and asked Gerron "Why did you not simply tell me this in the first place?"

"Sir, you may find that Bajorans have a few things in common with Humans." said Gerron. "One of them is that both of us are very uncomfortable openly discussing certain events of our personal lives with other people. Plus, the Captain has her whole fraternization policy. I did not want you to believe I was still having too much difficulty adapting to Starfleet regulations."

"Mr. Gerron, you are free to socialize as you wish with Miss Celes or any other member of the crew as long as you are discreet and it does not interfere with your duties." Tuvok reassured him. "I will not have you undergoing another ten-kilometer run on Deck 13 for being intimate with Crewman Celes."

"What about Deck 8?" asked Gerron.

"Is that a joke, Mr. Gerron?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you need to work on your humor." Tuvok advised. "It's as underdeveloped as the alliance between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire."

Gerron grinned and said "Yes, Lieutenant." It was the first time that Tuvok had ever seen Gerron smile. But his smile quickly went away when Tuvok made his next statement: "I will need for Crewman Celes to report to sickbay to receive a scan of her cervix."

"Why must she do that, sir?" asked Gerron.

"To confirm that you and she did have intercourse when the replicator in the ready room was sabotaged." Tuvok answered. "If you indeed did, there should be some markings in her cervix to validate your claim."

"Is that necessary?" Gerron inquired nervously.

"At the present, it is the only way we can confirm your innocence in this matter." said Tuvok. "I know you must feel embarrassed over this, but I assure you, no one other than The Doctor, Commander Chakotay, Captain Janeway, Celes, you, and I will know of this. The six of us will be the only ones who will know this ever took place."

Gerron sighed and said "Very well, sir. I'll go find Tal."

"Thank you, Mr. Gerron."

…

After a particularly unpleasant visit to sickbay, Celes left the room with Gerron. The two of them had never been more uncomfortable in their lives after a doctor's appointment. But true to his word, Tuvok kept quiet about this matter, discussing it only with Janeway, Chakotay, and The Doctor.

"It would appear as though Gerron was telling the truth." said The Doctor. "He and Celes were… intimate with each other yesterday morning. I would say they were becoming intimate right when the replicator was sabotaged."

"Then that just leaves Tabor and B'Elanna." said Janeway. "I'd suggest that we question the latter first."

"Right." said Chakotay. He tapped his combadge and said "Chakotay to Torres." But there was no response. He tapped it again and said "Chakotay to Torres. B'Elanna, come in."

Finally, Janeway said aloud "Computer, locate B'Elanna Torres."

"Lieutenant Torres is in main engineering." said the computer.

"We'll go get her." Janeway said, gesturing for Chakotay and Tuvok to follow her. She said to The Doctor "Keep trying to develop a way to help Tom."

Then she and her First and Second Officers left sickbay.


	5. Second Strike

When Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok got to main engineering, they asked Lieutenant Carey if anyone had seen B'Elanna. Carey replied "She went to repair some mildly ruptured conduits in various Jefferies tubes. She should have been back by now, though."

"We'll go look for her." said Janeway. "I'll take tubes 1-4, Chakotay will take tubes 5-8, and Tuvok will take tubes 9-12."

The three of them then split up and went crawling through the Jefferies tubes looking for B'Elanna.

Back on Deck 5, Crewman Tabor was making his way to sickbay. He had a huge bleeding gash on his arm that he had acquired just a few moments earlier. Crewman Gennaro had been standing guard at the primary entrance into sickbay. He showed him his arm and he let him in right away. Inside sickbay, Ensign Swinn was standing guard by the bio-beds. Kes was giving Tom his hourly injection to keep him stabilized.

Tabor approached the EMH and said "Doc, do you have a dermal regenerator? I got a huge cut right here on my forearm."

"I see." said The Doctor, somewhat surprised by the size of the mark. "How did you acquire this injury?"

"I tripped in the mess hall against a table." Tabor replied a little quickly. "It created a large scrape on my arm."

"Alright." said The Doctor. He went across the room to find a dermal regenerator in a medicine cabinet.

At that same time, Chakotay, Janeway, and Tuvok were searching through the Jefferies tubes for B'Elanna. Finally, Chakotay found her- she was unconscious.

He tapped his combadge and said "Chakotay to Tuvok and Janeway. I've found B'Elanna. She's been knocked out."

"We'll move to intercept you." said Janeway.

While Tuvok and Janeway made their way to Chakotay and B'Elanna's position, Chakotay tried his hardest to revive the chief engineer.

Back in sickbay, The Doctor was running the dermal regenerator over Tabor's arm. Slowly his skin was regenerating in place. When it was fully regenerated, Tabor said "Thank you for your help, Doctor."

"It's no problem, Crewman." The Doctor smiled, taking the dermal regenerator back to its place. While he did that, Tabor stepped closer to the bio-bed that held Lieutenant Paris' unconscious form. The oxygen mask was still in place, and he had a blanket over most of his body; for The Doctor had said that it would be useful to keep a patient in his condition warm.

Kes had removed his jacket in order to extract some of his DNA cells from his arm. She was using the cells as test subjects in her research for finding a cure. She had made excellent progress, but she and The Doctor still had a long way to go.

Tabor asked her "How is he?"

She had her back to him and as she worked, she said over her shoulder "His condition is getting worse. The Doctor estimates that he'll be dead in just over sixty hours."

Tabor slowly pulled something out of his uniform jacket. He did it without Kes, The Doctor, or Swinn noticing. It was long and thin, and most of it was made of metal. At the end of one side, there was a small opening. A button and revolving knob were on the front of it. Tabor took another step closer to Tom, and he was standing directly over him at that point.

In Jefferies tube 8, Chakotay, Tuvok, and Janeway had succeeded in reviving B'Elanna. She opened her eyes with minor difficulty and asked "What happened? Where's Tabor?"

"Tabor?" said Chakotay. "We just found you unconscious."

"That's odd." said B'Elanna. "One moment I was repairing this conduit and then Tabor comes along, volunteering to help. The next thing I know, I feel a sharp pain on the back of my head. Then I wake up here with you three kneeling over me."

B'Elanna then started looking around the small crawlspace for no particular reason. When Chakotay asked "B'Elanna, what are you doing?", she answered "I had a modulation stabilizer here a moment ago. It's gone now."

"What do you need it for?" Janeway asked curiously. "And what does it look like?"

"I was using it to even out the elemental concentrations in the bio-neural gel packs." she explained. Then she told them what the gadget looked like. Its dimensions and appearance were identical to the piece of equipment Tabor had taken into sickbay."

Janeway's eyes then lit up. She said "B'Elanna, which elements does the stabilizer work on?"

"It works on all 247 of them, Captain." was B'Elanna's response. "It improves the concentration of whatever element or compound it comes in contact with."

"Including terionium and sulfur?" asked the Captain.

B'Elanna then realized what Captain Janeway was implying. The color seemed to drain from her face as she replied "Terionium and sulfur are two of the elements it works best on."

Tuvok immediately said "Computer, locate Crewman Tabor."

The response was "Crewman Tabor is in sickbay."

Tuvok asked "What is his position in relation to Lieutenant Paris?"

"Crewman Tabor is approximately 0.94 feet from Lieutenant Paris."

"Is there a modulation stabilizer in Tabor's hand?" said Tuvok.

The computer beeped "Affirmative."

Tuvok rammed his hand against his combadge and almost yelled into it "Tuvok to sickbay!"

"Doctor here." answered The Doctor. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

Tuvok yelled so loud that everyone is sickbay could hear him. He yelled "Doctor, Tabor's the assassin! Stop him before he can succeed!"

The Doctor whipped around and saw Tabor with his arm over Tom's unconscious form. He shouted to the security guard "Swinn, stop him!"

The ensign whipped out her phaser, but before she could aim it at Tabor, the Bajoran crewmember took a phaser out of his jacket, turned to her, and shot her. She groaned and fell unconscious to the ground.

Tabor turned back to his front and shot Kes in the chest. She collapsed against a cart and fell to the ground.

The Doctor ducked behind the cart as Crewman Gennaro came running into the room with his phaser in hand. But before he could realize what all was going on, he was shot by Tabor. He jumped a few feet backwards, hit the wall, and passed out.

Back in engineering, Chakotay, Janeway, B'Elanna, and Tuvok had gotten out of the Jefferies tube network and were making their way to sickbay. On their way, Janeway asked B'Elanna "What would happen if Tabor were to use the stabilizer on Tom?"

B'Elanna explained "Well, I'd say that after just one minute of usage on the terionium disulfide, such a large amount would have built up that Tom would die within seconds afterwards."

"Then we have to make sure that Tabor does not get away with this attempt on Tom's life." Chakotay concluded.

The four of them made it to a turbolift. They all stepped in and Tuvok said "Sickbay." The turbolift doors closed and the turbolift ascended six decks.

Ensign Parsons had been posted at the other entrance. He entered with his phaser in hand and aimed it at Tabor. He fired one shot, but he missed. From across the room, the two of them fired repeatedly at each other. While they did this, The Doctor grabbed a hypospray and loaded it with the most effectual sedative known to Bajorans.

Finally, Parsons was hit by Tabor and he fell onto the floor knocked out cold. Tabor then said "Computer, activate level 10 forcefields around all entrances to sickbay, and generate a dampening field to prevent anyone from beaming in or out. Authorization Janeway-omega-beta-6-4-3-5-3."

The computer complied with his order. He then locked control of sickbay out of the command functions.

Tabor then focused his attention on Tom Paris. He slowly approached him with his phaser in one hand and the modulation stabilizer in the other.

Before he got within a meter of Tom, The Doctor lunged at Tabor with the hypospray in his hand. He had Tabor in a chokehold and tried to inject the contents of the hypospray into his neck. But just before he could, Tabor gasped "Computer, deactivate the EMH!"

The Doctor vanished and the hypospray dropped to the ground. It landed just in front of Kes.

By then, Janeway and the others had made it to the sickbay doors with a security team. But when they approached the doors, they would not open. Janeway said "Computer, open the doors to sickbay."

The computer beeped "Unable to comply. All entrances to sickbay have been sealed off."

"On whose authority?"

The answer was "Captain Kathryn Janeway's."

Chakotay and B'Elanna glared at the Captain, but Tuvok knew what the problem was. He said "It would appear as though somehow Mr. Tabor knows your command codes, Captain."

"We have to get inside somehow." said Janeway.

At that exact same time, inside the sickbay, Tabor had approached Tom's bio-bed. He was standing less than a foot away from him. Tabor unhurriedly raised his right hand- the one with the modulation stabilizer- and held it over Tom's throat. He then rotated the knob on the gadget so that it was on its maximum output. Then he brought his thumb over the button. He gradually but firmly held down on the button. Soon, a bright blue light appeared on the end facing Tom, which signaled that the device had been activated. Tabor started moving it a few inches above Tom's neck, and the stabilizer began doing its job increasing the concentration of the residual terionium disulfide inside his throat.


	6. Back To The Drawing Board

Outside sickbay, Janeway and the others were frantically trying to break in. They had tried transporting in, but the dampening field around sickbay was rendering it impossible to beam in.

Janeway then told B'Elanna "There is a central commands console two hallways down. Try to access the main power database from it. If you do access it, shut down all power being routed to security on this deck."

B'Elanna nodded and started running as fast as she could to the commands console.

Inside sickbay, Tabor had been running the modulation stabilizer over Tom's throat for twelve seconds. It seemed that there was no hope for Tom, but fortune ended up landing in his direction.

Kes was still conscious on the ground. She quietly reached across the floor and grabbed the hypospray filled with the sedative. She also grabbed a closed tricorder. She graciously crawled around the bio-bed until she reached Tabor's feet. Then she jumped to her feet and grabbed Tabor by his shoulder. They struggled for a moment, and in the chaos Tabor dropped the stabilizer. Tabor almost overpowered her, but she had basically won over him when she bashed him on the head with the tricorder. Tabor dropped to his knees and touched the part of his head that Kes had struck. Finally, Kes got the hypospray up to his neck and injected the sedative into his body.

Tabor collapsed to the ground unconscious. Kes tapped her combadge and said "Kes to Captain Janeway."

"Janeway here." said Kathryn. "What's going on in there, Kes?"

"I've managed to knock Tabor out." she informed the Captain. "Crewman Gennaro and Ensigns Swinn and Parsons have all been shot, but they're only stunned."

"How is Lieutenant Paris?" asked Janeway.

Kes walked over to Tom and examined him with the tricorder. She announced "He's still alive, but the terionium disulfide in his esophagus is thirty percent more concentrated."

"We need you to shut down the forcefields that are preventing the doors from being opened." said Janeway. "Pick up a phaser and shoot at a small panel to the right of the door. That should deactivate the matrix."

Kes looked around and picked up the first phaser she saw. It was Ensign Swinn's phaser. She set it a little higher than stun, aimed at the panel by the door, and fired. The panel short-circuited and subsequently shut down. The door quickly opened. Janeway and the others entered the room. Three members of the security team went to revive Parsons, Swinn, and Gennaro.

Janeway tapped her combadge and said "Janeway to Torres. B'Elanna, don't bother with shutting down the forcefields. We've already got the doors to sickbay open again."

Chakotay then said "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram."

The Doctor reappeared and said "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." He looked around and said "Where is Mr. Tabor?"

"Kes managed to incapacitate him." said Tuvok. He turned to Crewman Lang, who was in the group of security guards that had accompanied him and ordered him "Lang, take Tabor to the brig. We'll question him later when he regains consciousness."

Lang nodded and picked the unconscious Bajoran up by his shoulders. He was about to half-carry, half-drag him out of sickbay when The Doctor noticed the huge bruise Kes had made on his head when she struck him. By then it was bleeding. The Doctor turned to Janeway and said "Captain, I must request that you temporarily leave Mr. Tabor here in sickbay. That wound on his forehead may be serious."

"Doctor, I appreciate your concern for every member of the crew," the Captain told him, "but Tabor just tried to kill our helmsman. Again."

"I know, Captain," the EMH said, "but I have a responsibility to provide health care for every person on this ship."

After thinking over The Doctor's request several times, Janeway said "Very well. You may treat Tabor. But first there are some precautions we must take. Tuvok, I want a security guard posted at either side of the bio-bed you set him on, and I want another one standing in close proximity to Lieutenant Paris."

"I will assemble more guards, Captain." Tuvok reassured her.

"Oh, and tell them one more thing." Janeway added. "If Tabor regains consciousness and puts up a struggle, they have total authorization to use their phasers. And tell them that they may use the 'kill' setting, but only if it is absolutely necessary."

Tuvok was a little surprised to hear Captain Janeway's last order. But he knew better than to question her orders. More security guards assembled in sickbay and assumed their positions. Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok left the room and returned to the bridge.

The Doctor ran a few scans on Tabor's forehead. Tabor had a slight concussion from the blow to his head, and he was bleeding steadily. The Doctor ran a dermal regenerator over his head and the wound sealed itself. While operating on Tabor, The Doctor found that the injury on his arm had actually been self-inflicted. The Doctor concluded that Tabor had injured himself in order to get into sickbay. It would have made the situation all the more easy for Tabor to get closer to Tom.

The Doctor scanned Tabor's head again and found that it was totally healed, but there was some significant discrepancy in his neural pathways. He focused his tricorder onto the region of his brain the discrepancy originated from, and found that whatever was causing the inconsistency was not organic. He was unsure what it was, but it was definitely not organic.

…

B'Elanna and Chakotay were in the mess hall, eating lunch. Chakotay feasted well on his spinach salad and salmon. But B'Elanna had barely even touched her pot roast with rice. She just poked at it with her knife and fork. Neelix walked over to the two of them with a pitcher in his hand. He asked Chakotay "More ice water, Commander?"

"Fill 'er up, Neelix." said Chakotay, lifting up his glass to Neelix. The Talaxian grinned and filled the Indian officer's glass. He turned to Lieutenant Torres and asked her "How about you, B'Elanna?"

She appeared to be lost in thought. But Neelix caught her attention. She said "What? Oh, no thank you, Neelix, I'm fine."

Neelix set the pitcher on the counter and then came back to the table. He said "Is everything alright, B'Elanna?"

"No, Neelix, everything is not alright." she answered sternly.

Seeing the alarmed look on Neelix's face, Chakotay enlightened him: "We found the assassin. It's Tabor. He just tried to kill Tom again."

"Oh yeah, How is Tom?" asked Neelix.

"He's still in critical condition." Chakotay responded. "We won't know all the details until The Doctor's submitted his daily report."

While the two of them talked, B'Elanna held her knife off of her plate and held it up vertically on the table. Then the thought of Tabor doing something as terrible as murdering Tom whilst in a coma haunted her thoughts. She started pressed down on the handle of the knife as the thoughts went on. She remembered all that her mother had told her about honor and how it is acquired on the battlefield. B'Elanna had never really been one to uphold the traditions on the Klingon side of her family, but she did agree with the idea that killing someone in their sleep demonstrated cowardice and weakness. The thought of such a dishonorable act being done to one of her friends by another of her friends made her blood want to boil.

"B'Elanna!" Chakotay yelled to catch her attention.

B'Elanna suddenly realized that she had dug the blade of the knife almost entirely into the table. She looked down at it, mildly shocked and embarrassed. She quickly pulled it out and said "I'm sorry about the table, Neelix. I'll repair it as soon as I get back on duty."

Neelix just grinned and said "Not to worry, B'Elanna. I can easily cover it up or get a replacement table."

The three of them were laughing then. A minute later, Kes walked into the mess hall. She went up to the replicator and said "Hot plain chicken soup." A bowl of hot chicken broth materialized in front of her. Ever since she had come on board, Kes had been developing quite a taste for Human foods. She picked up the bowl and went to look for a table.

Chakotay and B'Elanna waved her over. She sat down next to Chakotay and started eating. They also invited Neelix to sit down and eat with them. He decided to accept their offer and had Crewman Blain take over for him until he had finished eating. After giving Blain his hat and apron, Neelix put together a small bowl of vegetables he knew to be Kes' favorites. Then he grabbed a pot of leola root stew for himself and went to join the others. Kes thanked him for the vegetables and placed them next to her soup. Neelix sat down next to B'Elanna, who had finally decided to eat her food instead of poke at it.

After about six minutes of silence between them, Neelix broke the silence when he asked Kes "So, how's Tom holding up?"

Kes had a sullen look on her face after hearing that question. She just looked down at her soup and said "He's getting worse every minute. This morning, The Doctor estimated we would have sixty hours to save him. But after what Tabor did to him, we'll be lucky if we even have forty hours left."

Chakotay patted Kes on the back. She looked at him as he assured her "We have you to thank for the fact that he is still alive anyway. Had you not sedated Tabor, Tom would be lying in the morgue right now instead of sickbay."

"And Tabor would be long out of the airlock." B'Elanna added tensely. Chakotay looked at her, surprised. Concerned for her, he asked "Is everything alright, B'Elanna?"

"No, that filthy _petaQ_ just tried to murder an unconscious, unarmed man." said B'Elanna. "I may not have upheld the customs on the Klingon side of my family, but I do agree with the concept that killing someone in their sleep is a horrendous action."

"B'Elanna, is there something personal going on between you and Tom?" asked Chakotay.

She looked at the Commander and asked him "Whatever gives you that impression, sir?"

"Well, when we were still in the Maquis, you and Tabor were always getting along rather well." Chakotay recalled. "But now you seem to be getting closer and closer to Tom."

"Chakotay, Tom has saved my life twice within the past eight months." B'Elanna explained her feelings. "On Avery III, when I was split into my Human and Klingon halves, I was scared. For the first time in my life, I felt uncontrollable fear. The fear itself scared me; it was so strong. But Tom helped me through that nightmare and watched over me until we were rescued."

"I understand how you feel for Tom, B'Elanna." Chakotay smiled, patting her on the shoulder. "He saved my life on the Ocampa homeworld, too. He risked his own life to carry me from the caverns to the surface."

"The Doctor and I are doing everything we can for him." Kes assured them. "But we are going to have to find a cure soon, or he will die within the next two days."

Just as they were finishing their meals, Janeway's voice came over the comline: "All senior officers, report to the conference room immediately."

Neelix quickly cleaned the table up and left the room with the other three.

…

In the conference room, Tuvok, Harry, and Kathryn had already assembled. After everyone else arrived, they got right down to business. Captain Janeway announced "The Doctor just made a very unpleasant discovery a few moments ago. I'll bring it up on the viewscreen."

She stood up, walked over to the terminal on the wall, and activated the viewscreen. The terminal in sickbay was activated once again and The Doctor was standing by the main computer in the room. He announced to the rest of the senior staff: "When I was treating Crewman Tabor for the bruise on his forehead, I ran some scans on his entire head. I discovered something rather disconcerting."

He turned to the panel on the wall and typed in a certain computation. An image of Tabor's head on an infrared scale appeared on the screen. The Doctor pointed to a small speck located just above Tabor's left eye. He asked the senior staff "Do you see that?"

They all nodded. Harry asked "What is that?"

The Doctor enlarged the grid that contained the speck so that the rest of the senior staff could get a closer look. Then he isolated the speck itself. He explained to them "What we are seeing now is a type of microchip imbedded in Crewman Tabor's brain. Based on its position, I have been able to conclude that it is used to suppress freewill and transmit control of Tabor's voluntary muscles to another source."

"You mean someone is brainwashing Tabor, Doctor?" said Chakotay.

"And whoever is doing it is controlling his mind in the process?" said Harry.

"That is exactly what I mean." The Doctor told the staff. "While Tabor may have appeared to be the assassin, he was not in direct control of his actions. He was essentially being used as a puppet by someone else. The real assassin is still at large on the ship."


	7. Drawing Out The Offender

Janeway and Tuvok had arrived in sickbay. The Doctor had surgically removed the microchip from Tabor's brain and he held it out to the Captain.

She took the chip and asked Tuvok "Do you recognize this design in any way?"

Tuvok studied the chip, and then he told Janeway "Yes, in fact, I do. This is a type of chip that only the Maquis use to enhance their antiquated technology."

"Okay, so we know that the real assassin is still a Maquis." said Janeway. "But who could it be?"

"I am uncertain." Tuvok answered. "We will need to conduct more investigations in order to fully understand the nature of the current situation."

Janeway agreed with him. She then noticed that the bio-bed that Tabor had been lying on was empty. She asked Tuvok "Where is Crewman Tabor at the moment?"

"I've confined him to quarters for the moment." Tuvok told her. "But I wish to begin questioning him as soon as possible."

"Go ahead." said Janeway. "Let me know if he comes up with any helpful information."

Tuvok nodded and left the room. Kathryn turned to The Doctor and ordered him "Keep me apprised on Tom."

"Aye, Captain." said The Doctor.

…

Crewman Tabor was in his quarters. He was kneeling at a type of Bajoran alter and praying to the Prophets. His eyes were shut tight and he prayed in his thoughts _Prophets, please, forgive me for not being able to control myself in this catastrophe. Forgive whoever used me in their attempt to kill Tom Paris. And for whatever crimes he may have committed in the past, forgive Tom Paris and let him live._

He stopped praying when the bell at his door rang. He opened his eyes and called to the door "Come in!"

Tuvok entered the room with a PADD in his hand. He stood by the door and glanced at Tabor. He saw what the young Bajoran was doing and inquired "Am I interrupting anything important, Mr. Tabor?"

"No, Lieutenant, please come in." said Tabor. He stood up and offered Tuvok something to drink from the replicator. Tuvok politely turned down his request and sat down at a table. Tabor then sat down across from him and asked "What may I do for you, sir?"

"I'm here to ask you a few questions about your experience." said Tuvok.

Tabor sat up in his chair and said "Ask away."

Tuvok prepped the PADD and then asked his first query: "Do you remember anything from either of the instances when you were hypnotized?"

"I'm afraid not, sir." said Tabor. "Based on what I already know about the two times I was in a trance, I had been asleep at the start of both of them." He suddenly had a spontaneous realization. "However, I do recall something from the second wave of hypnosis."

"What would that be?"

Tabor tried hard to recall the detail he remembered. He definitely remembered something, but was uncertain as to what it was exactly. Finally he was able to comprehend the detail: "While I was sleeping yesterday, I heard a very faint voice in the back of my head."

"Do you recall anything about the voice?" asked Tuvok.

"Well, I do remember that there was light and easy-speaking." Tabor told the Vulcan. "It was the voice of a woman. It seemed to be gentle, but it was demanding something of me."

"Demanding what exactly?" asked Tuvok.

"I believe…" Tabor began, "I believe that was the voice of the assassin ordering me to kill Tom."

"Are you certain?"

"Absolutely, sir."

"Alright." said Tuvok. "So now we know that the assassin is female. Who do you know in the Maquis that is female and has the skills required to go to this much trouble?"

"Well, considering how many people still have been acquitted by their alibis," said Tabor, "there are eight in total, but the two with the most skill needed are Anne Smithee… and B'Elanna."

"Why Miss Torres?" inquired Tuvok.

"I don't know." said Tabor. "It could be possibly that she had me knock her out before I was used in the second murder attempt on Tom's life. But I don't think B'Elanna would do something like this."

"Nevertheless, you are right to consider all possible scenarios." Tuvok encouraged the young Bajoran. He got up and said "I will present this information to the Captain. Perhaps we will find the assassin sooner than we think."

Tuvok left Tabor alone in his room. After sitting in silence for a few moments, Tabor went back to his alter to pray to the Prophets some more.

…

Captain Janeway was in her ready room, studying the report Tuvok had given her. She sat at her desk wondering who the assassin could be. She too did not believe that B'Elanna should have been on the list, but she had always trusted Tuvok's judgment before. She decided to go along with what Tuvok had reported. After a few more minutes of wondering, her combadge beeped.

"Doctor to Captain Janeway." The Doctor stated over the comline.

Tapping her combadge, Kathryn said "Janeway here. What is it, Doctor?"

"Captain, please report to sickbay." The Doctor answered her. "Kes and I have discovered something you may want to know about."

"I'm on my way."

…

Janeway quickly arrived in sickbay and went over to The Doctor and Kes.

"Were you able to make progress in developing a cure for Tom?" asked Janeway.

"We believe we may have found a way to cure him, Captain." The Doctor grinned.

"How so?" asked Janeway.

"Listen closely." Kes instructed her. "We will need to proceed carefully in this process."

…

Near the end of the day, Janeway had announced that The Doctor and Kes had discovered a cure to the rest of the crew and that they would administer it to him in the morning. Right then, they needed to wait until the terionium disulfide was at the most ideal stage for the treatment to be administered.

That night, sickbay was closed and The Doctor had deactivated himself. Most of the lights in sickbay were off and the only person there was Crewman Lang. He had been assigned to watch over Tom in the night shift. Ensigns Murphy and Rogers had been assigned to watch the entrances to the room.

The hallways were dimly lit that night. Almost the entire crew had gone to sleep.

Suddenly, down the hall, there came a loud noise. Murphy drew his phaser and went to investigate. But while he was away from his post, a shadow approached sickbay.

On the inside of sickbay, Crewman Lang was sitting in The Doctor's office, keeping an eye on both entrances. When the main one opened, he quickly turned his head towards it. No one came through. He drew his phaser and went to the door. He looked down both ends of the corridor, and no one was there.

"Murphy?" he called out. There came no response. Lang just shrugged to himself and turned back into sickbay. Once back inside, he was almost promptly knocked out by an unidentified figure. Lang groaned and fell onto his back.

The figure turned its attention toward the medical database. It approached the workstation and accessed the files labeled "Tom Paris Treatment."

The figure located the file labeled "Terionium Disulfide Treatment" and deleted it. Then it looked around the room and saw the rack of medicines and sedatives. The figure walked over to it and found the container labeled "Terionium Disulfide Cure." DNA. The mysterious individual placed the container on the counter and took out a phaser. The figure set it on the maximum setting and pointed it directly at the container.

Just then, the lights activated and Chakotay, Tuvok, and four security guards stormed into sickbay. They all pointed their weapons at the figure, who still had its back turned to them.

"Turn around." Chakotay ordered the person. "Very slowly."

The figure complied with his order. Chakotay was stunned when he saw who it was. All he could utter was "Anne?"

The figure was Anne Smithee, one of Chakotay's longtime friends in the Maquis. She still had her phaser pointed directly at the container labeled "Cure."

"You're the assassin?" said Chakotay.

"Yes." she said. "And I will not be unsuccessful in my work."

Immediately, she vaporized the container with the phaser. Grinning wickedly, she looked at Chakotay and told him "There's nothing you can do to try to save Paris now."

"That wasn't the cure." said Chakotay.

"What?" said Smithee.

"That was just a test tube filled with water and food coloring." Chakotay explained. "And that file was just a list of Tom's favorite foods."

"But I thought you said you had a cure?" Smithee then realized the answer to her own question. "Oh, I see now. You just claimed that The Doctor had found a cure in effort to draw me out into the light."

"I'd say my plan worked quite well." said Chakotay. "And by the way, your attempt on Tom's life won't succeed. Kes and The Doctor have already found an actual cure, but in order to keep Tom safe, they have told no one a single detail about it except me, the Captain, and Tuvok."

Smithee developed a very tense look on her face. She was clearly infuriated by the fact she had just been uncovered by Chakotay and that her plans were not going to succeed.

"Why did you do it, Anne?" asked Chakotay.

"He betrayed us." said Smithee. "He was going to get the rest of us arrested just so that he would be freed from prison."

"I don't like it either, Anne." said Chakotay. "But right now, none of that matters. The rest of the Maquis and I have forgiven Tom."

"I am a very forgiving person too, Chakotay." said Smithee. "But the one thing I never forgive is treachery. In my eyes, treachery is the worst sin one could make and all traitors should be killed."

"In a way, I betrayed your people, Miss Smithee." Tuvok pointed out.

"That's different." said Smithee. "You were just doing your job. Paris was doing it for his own benefit. He deserves to die."

At this, Smithee pointed her phaser at Tom's unconscious form and said to the six people in front of her "Any of you take as much as a step closer, and I'll kill him."

"Logic indicates that you will murder Lieutenant Paris regardless of whether we stay back or not." Tuvok noted. "To do nothing would be highly illogical."

"I've invested too much into this to let it fail." said Smithee. "I'm going to finish what I started!"

"Anne, don't do this." Chakotay tried to convince her.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to disobey your orders, Commander." said Smithee.

"Anne, if you even try to fire that phaser, I will shoot you." Chakotay threatened.

Anne chuckled and said "Earlier I ingested a type of compound that strengthens the body against phaser-fire. Anything under the setting of kill is completely useless on me."

Chakotay realized just what the current situation called for. He was going to have to choose whose life had to be saved. Then he made his decision. He set his phaser on kill and kept it pointed at Smithee. She could just stare at him in disbelief.

"You would kill me- a friend of nine years- to save him, a devious reject?" she presumed.

"He is not as devious as he used to be, nor is he a reject." said Chakotay. "And no friend of mine would kill an unconscious person in cold blood."

Smithee kept her phaser pointed at Tom. Chakotay ordered the four security guards to step out of the room and leave him and Tuvok alone with Smithee. They agreed and left.

Chakotay told Anne "This is your last chance. Put that phaser down. NOW."

Smithee then looked at Tom Paris' unconscious form on the bio-bed. So many thoughts were going through her mind at that moment. In the end, she lowered her phaser. Chakotay and Tuvok did the same. Smithee said "Well, I suppose that I can come to forgive him."

Chakotay was about to give her a friendly grin when she abruptly added in "Or perhaps not!" and pointed her phaser back at Tom.

In a split-second, Chakotay raised his phaser and fired at Smithee. The beam of energy hit her directly in the chest. She fell backwards against the wall and died in a sitting position.

Chakotay could only breathe in deeply and stare at her. He had just killed one of his own people to save Tom's life. Unable to hold himself together, he dropped the phaser and went to stand against the wall for support. Seeing the Commander's reaction, Tuvok asked him "Sir, are you feeling alright?"

Chakotay assured the Vulcan security chief "I'm fine, Tuvok. Just notify the Captain that the assassin will not be making a third attempt on fate."

"Yes, sir." said Tuvok.

Once the Captain had been notified of the situation, Smithee's body was taken to the morgue. Crewman Lang was revived, having only a bruise on his forehead. The good news kept coming when Kes and The Doctor spoke with the Captain when she came down to sickbay: they had found a cure at last!


	8. Resolving The Crisis

"Now this one is an actual cure, correct?" said Janeway.

"Yes, it is, Captain." Kes confirmed. "And it is guaranteed to save Tom's life."

"Here, we'll show it to you." The Doctor brought up a report on some research he and Kes had been conducting. It pertained largely to Bajoran anatomy. The Doctor explained "As I told you the other day, Bajorans are immune to the hazardous effects of terionium disulfide. I believe I can employ that to our advantage."

"How so?" asked Janeway.

"If we can acquire a few DNA cells from the immune systems of a male and a female Bajoran," The Doctor went on, "I believe Kes and I can combine them together to form a type of enzyme. The enzyme would have the characteristics of the Bajoran immune system. I can then replicate the enzyme many times and inject them into Tom's bloodstream. The enzymes should then be able to fight off the terionium disulfide and expel it from Tom's throat."

"Expel it how?" inquired Janeway.

"All the terionium disulfide will gather in the bottom of his stomach." The Doctor elucidated. "From there, I can perform minor surgery to remove every last microscopic bit of it."

"That's brilliant." Janeway complimented The Doctor and his young nurse. "Who do you want to volunteer for this?"

"We believe Crewmen Gerron and Celes will be perfectly willing to comply." said Kes. "Both of them consider Tom to be a good friend of theirs."

"Very well." said Janeway. "How much longer does Tom have left to live without treatment?"

"About twenty hours, Captain." said The Doctor. "Crewmen Celes and Gerron typically get up around eight hours from now."

"How long will it take you to develop this cure?"

"Just two or three hours." said Kes. "We'll still have nine hours to administer the medicine to Tom."

"In that case, why should we rush?" Chakotay joked.

"Not funny, Commander." said Janeway. "It's never a good idea to cut these things close."

"I know, Captain." said Chakotay. "I've always known."

…

The next morning, Gerron and Celes reported to sickbay. The Doctor gave them a mild sedative and once they were asleep, he extracted a few of their DNA cells from their immune systems. After reviving the two Bajorans, Kes and The Doctor went to work on the cure.

After three long hours of work, the enzyme had been created. Quickly but carefully, Kes and The Doctor replicated the enzyme hundreds of times until they had almost five test tubes' worth. In actuality, they only needed two, but they felt it necessary to have extra enzyme samples on hand.

Then the moment of suspense came. The Doctor and Kes stood on either side of the main bio-bed and each of them inserted one test tube into a hypospray. The Doctor slowly and delicately placed the end of his against a designated spot on Tom's throat and pressed the button to inject the enzyme.

Nothing happened at that moment. Tom remained perfectly still. The Doctor gave Kes the signal to proceed with administering her dosage of enzymes. She nodded and moved her hypospray to the exact same spot on Tom's throat and pressed down on the button.

They just waited in silence for something to happen. Both Kes and The Doctor knew that there would be no physical signs on the outside that would indicate a change in Tom's condition; they would have to rely on what their instruments told them. After ten minutes of waiting, Kes ran a scanning device over the area in between Tom's throat and lower chest. Studying the tricorder the scanning device belonged to, she announced to the holographic physician "All the terionium disulfide has moved into his stomach. It cannot harm him anymore."

"Good." said The Doctor. "Prepare him for surgery. We'll get that compound out of his body once and for all."

Kes nodded and got out the necessary equipment. The Doctor performed the surgery on Tom. It didn't take more than ten minutes, but The Doctor was taking absolute care in his work. Finally, all the fragments of terionium disulfide had been removed from Tom's stomach. Kes ran the scanning device over Tom's entire body. When she was finished, she studied the tricorder and proclaimed "We've done it, Doctor. There's not a microbe of terionium disulfide left anywhere in Tom's body."

The Doctor smiled in satisfaction at their work. He removed the oxygen mask from Tom's face, knowing he would not be needing it anymore. Kes asked him "What are we to do now?"

"I'll give him some winolicine." said The Doctor. "That should give him some help in regaining his consciousness. But after that, all we can do is wait."

Kes nodded and handed The Doctor a hypospray loaded with winolicine. The Doctor injected it into Tom's neck and just stood waiting in anxiety for him to recover.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, Tom slowly opened his eyes. He only had blurred vision at first, but as he opened his eyes all the way, he completely regained his eyesight. Soon he had the strength to sit up. Kes and The Doctor aided him in this endeavor. Looking around, he asked "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in sickbay, Lieutenant." said The Doctor. "But in answer to your second question, that may take a little longer to explain. I suggest that you take a shower and get something to eat. Then somebody will explain it to you."

"Sounds like a pact." said Tom. He pulled the blanket off his lap, picked up his uniform jacket, slid it over his arms, and left without another word.

Kes then tapped her combadge and said "Kes to Captain Janeway."

"Janeway here." the Captain replied. "Go aheard, Kes."

"The cure worked, Captain." Kes stated proudly. "Lieutenant Paris is awake and back on his feet."

"Excellent work." said Janeway. "Has The Doctor released him from sickbay?"

"Yes." said Kes. "He's going to his quarters for a while. Then he'll be ready to be informed of what happened while he was out."

…

Later in the mess hall, Tom ate his lunch while Janeway and Tuvok kept him up-to-date on the events of the past few days.

"So, I was in sickbay for almost three full days?" said Tom, his mouth full of chicken.

"Correct, Lieutenant." said Tuvok.

"Wow." said Tom. "Three days of nothing but protein formula injections for food. No wonder I can't stop eating."

Janeway chuckled. "That's probably one of the reasons."

"So, I would imagine that you are rescinding the 'beverages on the bridge' policy, Captain?" Tom assumed.

"That is correct, Tom." said Janeway. "And from now on, no one will be allowed to add something into the replicator's database without authorization."

"A reasonable safety measure." Tuvok noted.

Tom agreed, then, taking a bite of fruit salad, he said "I can imagine I wasn't missed that much while I was in sickbay."

"Tom, virtually the entire crew was on edge." said Janeway. "Besides, how could I not miss my Chief Conn Officer?"

"You're too kind, Captain." said Tom, pretending to blush. He ate a spoonful of corn and said "You said that Chakotay managed to stop Smithee just in time?"

"Exactly." said Janeway.

"Where is she now?" asked Tom, eating more chicken.

"In the morgue." Tuvok replied straightforwardly.

Tom just looked up at him and swallowed what food was in his mouth. Then he uttered "What?"

"Commander Chakotay was forced to kill her in order to stop her from killing you." Tuvok enlightened him.

"Chakotay killed a longtime friend of his to save my life?" said Tom, unable to grasp that idea.

"Would you have done the same for him, Lieutenant?"

Tom took some time to think about his answer. Then he presented it: "I suppose I would, Captain."

"You should let him know that." said Janeway.

Tom nodded. Then Tuvok and Janeway left him to eat his lunch alone. Later B'Elanna came around and sat at the table with him.

"The nerve of Tuvok," Tom said angrily, "putting you on the suspect list. Who does he think he is?"

B'Elanna just shrugged and said "He was just doing his job."

"I suppose you're right." Tom agreed. "Still, I want to thank you for wanting to contribute something to my recovery."

"You've saved my life twice since we've arrived in the Delta Quadrant." B'Elanna pointed out. "I felt that I owed it to you."

Later that day, Tabor apologized to Tom for his indirect role in Anne Smithee's murder plan. Tom easily forgave him and assured him that none of it was his fault. Later he thanked both Gerron and Celes for donating some of their DNA cells to save his life. They told him they were proud to have done something to save the life of a friend.

The next day, as Tom walked down the corridor to report to the bridge, he saw Chakotay walking in the same direction about forty feet in front of him. Tom walked a little faster to catch up. Then he said "Commander?"

"Yes, Tom?" asked the Indian First Officer.

"May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course."

At first Tom said nothing, and then he told Chakotay "I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. But I'm sorry you had to kill one of your friends in order to do it."

"It's alright, Tom." Chakotay ensured him. He brought a wide smile onto his face and added "Besides, this makes us even."

"Sir?" Tom was slightly confused.

"You saved my life on the Ocampa homeworld." Chakotay explained to him. "I just saved your life in sickbay. That would mean that you and I are on equal terms now."

Tom smiled and patted Chakotay on the back. As they made their way to the turbolift, Tom said "You're right, sir."

When they arrived on the bridge, the Captain said to Tom "Welcome back to the bridge, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Captain." he retorted. "Request permission to have my post back."

"Granted." said Janeway.

Tom relieved the ensign at the helm and sat down in his chair. He flew the ship like he always had during the past few months. All was normal once again. The crew of the USS _Voyager _continued their long 75-year journey toward home.


End file.
